Log-turner.



' P atented Ian. I, |90|.

T. S.W|LK|N.

LOG TURNER.

(Application filed June 4 1900 2 Sheets-Sheet (No Model.)

NrTan STATES PATENT rerun.

THEODORE S. WILKIN, OF BROOKVILLE, PENNSYLVANIA.

LOG-TURNER.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 664,917, dated January 1, 1901.

Application filed June 4, 1900. Serial No- 18,993. (No modehi To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, THEODORE S. WILKIN, of Brookville, in the county of Jefferson and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Log-Turners, of which the following is a description, reference being bad to the accompanying drawings, which are a part of this specification.

My invention relates to improvements in a log-turner of the general character of the logturner that is shown and described in Letters Patent No. 583,560, issued to me on June 1, 1897. Log-turners of this class-are mostly employed in sawmills for turning the log that is on the carriage and during the intermissions in the acts of sawing the log, especially during the time when the log and carriage are being retrieved or run back after the saw has passed through the log or immediately after the carriage and log have been completely run back and before the carriage and log again start to go ahead. In the expedition with which the work in a sawmill is carried on at the present age it is the practice to put the log-turner into operation while the carriage is being run back and to turn the log by the use of the log-turner while the carriageis retreatingrearwardly, and in so doing the teeth of the log-turner engage the log while it is in motion endwise toward the rear, and in lifting or turning it while thus in motion endwise the tooth or teeth of the logturner cut or scratch a longitudinal or spirally-disposed ragged crease or channel in the log or timber unless the tooth comes in contact with a knot or other unyielding part of the log, when the tooth or log-turner is liable to be bent or broken under the force of the shock of the retreating log on the carriage. The object of my invention is to provide means for obviating this danger to the turner 'or other parts of the mechanism and to provide a better and more efficient log-turner than has heretofore been in use.

The invention consists of the features of the log-turner as hereinafter described and claimed or their equivalents.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a vertical front and rear section of a fragment of the bar of a log-turner with my improved devices in connection therewith. Fig. 2 is a transverse section of the construction shown in Fig. 1. Fig.

3 is a detail of a modified form of construction for myimproved log-turner. Figs. 4 and 5 show another modified form of construction.

The log-turner to which my improvement relates consists of an upwardly-movable bar constructed, preferably, of two adjacent and oppositely-disposed rails or plates A, secured together by means of rivets B B, advisably passing through interposed strengtheningblocks 0 C, forming a strong rigid turnerbar provided with tooth-spaces between the plates and between the blocks C O.

A series of turner-teeth D D are located between the plates A A of the bar and are pivoted thereto at their rear extremities by bolts or rivets E. These teeth D extend normally across the bar at substantially a right angle thereto and project somewhat beyond the front edge of the plates A A, their front extremities resting on the blocks 0 or some analogous support. The teeth D are each provided with an upwardly-projecting pin F, on which is mounted, with the base or larger end upwardly, a revoluble terminal member G in the general form of a frustuln of a cone. This construction provides a comparatively sharp point or edge H, adapted to engage a log.

By reason of the revolubility of the mem ber G on the pin F the member G is capable of and in fact is adapted to revolve when its edge H engages a log that is moving endwise past the turner and which, while still engaging the log and overturning it as the turner goes up, obviates the danger of the tooth being turned aside or the turner bent by the endwise movement of the log with which the tooth is in engagement. To secure the member G revolubly on the pin F, the pin F is preferably provided with a groove I about it, and a key K, inserted in the member Gr, enters the groove I and prevents the member G from escaping from the pin F, while permitting the free rotation of the member G on the top of the tooth. The construction and disposition of the members of the tooth are such that as the turner-bar is retrieved downwardly the tooth D, including the member G, if they come in contact with the log or other obstruction, will be tilted up within the space between the plates A A.

In the modified form of construction shown it I I in Fig. 3 the pin F projects from the end of the tooth D instead of from its upper edge, as in the form shown in Fig. 1, and the frustum-of-cone member G is thereby mounted on the tooth D on an oblique axis thereto. This form of construction also presents a sharp edge H for engaging a log, and this engaging edge in use by the rotation of the member G becomes a continuously-shifting engaging edge. The tooth D may be made somewhat thinner than the space between the plates A A, and in such case bosses L L and ribs IWI M, projecting laterally from the tooth, may be employed to fill up, and properly fit the tooth within, the space between the plates.

In the modified form of construction shown in Figs. 4 and 5 there is a turner-bar A, constructed of a round steel bar, and to this there is shown attached a lifting-rod N, the' bar and lifting-rod being in general form and connection substantially like the construction shown in Patent No. 583,560, hereinbefore referred to, though in this invention I do not wish to limit myself to a general construction of the turner-bar that shall include a lifting-rod, like the rod N, connected to the turner-bar at its upper extremity. On this round bar A, I provide a series of disk-like teeth 0 0, each of which is provided with a short hub of suchlength along the bar A as to separate the disk-like teeth 0 0 from each other when the hubs are in contact with each other on the bar. These disk-like teeth are revoluble on the bar A and are supported against unduly slipping down thereon by a V so disposed as to present a sharp edge to a log to be turned, and to be adapted to rotate on being engaged by a laterally-passing log.

2. In a log-turner the combination with a bar of a tooth secured thereto, and a terminal frustum-of-cone member pivoted thereon with its base or greater diameter projectingin' such manner as to engage an adjacent log. 7

3. In a log-turner the combination with a turner-bar, of a tooth pivoted therein, a pin on the tooth, a frustum-of-cone member on the free end of the tooth projecting therefrom so as to be adapted to engage an adja cent log and be rotated thereby, and means secu ring the frustum-of-cone member rot-ata-V bly to the tooth.

4. A log turner comprising a longitudinal bar, and a log-engaging member so mounted on the bar as to be capable of being revolved;

while in contact with the log by the endwise movement of the log laterally past the logturner.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses. V

THEODORE S. WILKIN.

\Vitnesses:

WILLIAM C. EVANS, BUELL B. WHITEHILL. 

